Military
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Ranger 12: Naval Aviation is a Risky Business- Especially at Night
The Douglas A3D Skywarrior was the largest and heaviest aircraft to regularly operate from US Navy aircraft carriers. They were not restricted to the Forrestal-class “supercarriers” either. They operated from the Essex-class carriers fitted with angled decks and steam catapults as well as the Midway-class carriers. Although fitted with folding wings and a folding vertical […] More
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The XB-51: Martin’s Movie Star Bomber Smashed The Bomber Mold
With their innovative XA-45 attack aircraft, Martin was building on the success of their B-26 Marauder medium bomber. Conceived in 1945 as Martin’s answer to a US Army Air Force (USAAF) requirement for a low-level bomber, the aircraft featured a number of ground-breaking design characteristics. When the war ended and the USAAF did away with […] More
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The Mercator: A Cold War Spy Plane Many Never Even Knew Existed
Martin’s P4M Mercator maritime reconnaissance aircraft was built as a potential replacement for the Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer but lost out to the Lockheed P2V Neptune for the role. Development of the aircraft, initially designated Project 219 by Martin, began clear back in 1944. The resemblance between the Mercator and the Neptune was remarkable, especially to […] More
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Watch Military Jets Making Freedom Noises in Pacific Skies
This recently shot high-definition footage features US military aircraft operating from Anderson Air Force Base (AFB) on Guam in the Marianas during Valiant Shield joint training exercises. The footage is mostly takeoffs and departures, but it’s the variety of aircraft seen in the clip that makes it so awesome. The video was uploaded to YouTube […] More
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BREAKING: USAF T-6A Trainer Down in San Antonio- Crew Safe
On Tuesday 18 September at approximately 1600 local time a United States Air Force Beechcraft T-6A Texan II turbine-powered trainer crashed in a field in the vicinity of Rolling Oaks Mall near Nacogdoches Road just outside Loop 1604 in the northeastern San Antonio, Texas, area. The crew of two aboard the trainer successfully ejected from […] More
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The Helldiver: Haste Made a Waste of This World War II Dive Bomber
The Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber was one of the aircraft that won World War II. But like every aircraft in service during the late 1930s, improved replacements were on the drawing boards at several contractors even before the United States went to war. Of course the SBD would turn out to be one of […] More
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Stoof with a Roof: Grumman’s Tracer Was the First of Its Kind
When the Grumman Tracer entered operational US Navy service with Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron ONE ONE (VAW-11) Early Elevens in 1958 at Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island, the aircraft was designated WF-2. The WF designation quickly branded the aircraft with the nickname Willy Fudd. The WF-2 was the third member of the Grumman family […] More
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The Variety of Aircraft Flown by the Guard Was Astounding
The Army National Guard and the Air National Guard (ANG) are portrayed performing many of their wide variety of duties in the Vietnam-era film “The Men and the Minute.” The film features the Tennessee ANG flying their Boeing C-97G Stratofreighters, Puerto Rico ANG flying North American F-86H Sabres, Massachusetts ANG flying their Convair F-102A Delta […] More
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BROKEN: USAF F-35A Suffers Nosegear Collapse at Eglin AFB
On August 22nd 2018 a Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II was damaged when its nose gear collapsed after returning to Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) due to an inflight emergency. According to the United States Air Force 33rd Fighter Wing (FW) Nomads based at Eglin, “An F-35A Lightning II, assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron, […] More
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Bearcat: The Last and the Best of Grumman’s Propeller Driven Cats
On 23 June 1943 a meeting took place at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This particular meeting was between veteran Navy and Marine Corps Grumman F4F Wildcat pilots and Grumman Vice President Jake Swirbul. The legendary John S. “Jimmy” Thach opined that the most important characteristic in a fighter aircraft was rate of climb. With production […] More
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The Orion: When You Do Good Work It’s Hard to Replace You
Author’s Note: We couldn’t fit everything that needed to be said about the long-serving P-3 Orion into just one article, so look for a companion piece with trivia, anecdotes, and more tasty pics- coming soon to an Avgeekery.com near you! On 19 August 1958 a new Lockheed aircraft flew for the first time. It looked […] More
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Dominator: The Heavy Bomber That Was Supposed to Be a Backup
The Consolidated B-32 Dominator bomber was the last US Army Air Forces (USAAF) four engine heavy bomber to enter service and the last in combat during World War II. The Dominator was in many ways similar to the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. The B-32 was planned to use the same turbo-supercharged Wright R-3350 Duplex Cyclone engines […] More
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